Just A Flash, Then it's Gone
by Lmb111514
Summary: I never imagined this. I always imagined I'd die in battle, like all heroes go, like…like he did. But, now I'm dying from something that I can't control. I feel it disappear every day. Every now and then everything would come back, but after that it would just grow worse. The one thing I always remember, though it was not always a good thing, was his death. For Lunknownl's contest.


**Hey guys, I recently join Lunknownl's contest and this was the first prompt we were given: to write our version of Annabeth and Percy's death, I hope you like it!  
****Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters!  
****Song I'm listening to right now: 'Carry On by fun' cover by Peter Hollens and friends(love this song).**

Just a flash, then it's gone  
Annabeth's P.O.V.

I never imagined this. I always imagined I'd die in battle, like all heroes go, like…like he did. But, now I'm dying from something that I can't control. I feel it disappear every day. Every now and then everything would come back, but after that it would just grow worse. The one thing I always remember, though it was not always a good thing, was his death.

It was the only thing that ever stayed in my mind, the one thing that I can remember with perfect clarity. We were already married and settled in our own home in New York. We had just had the birth of our third child, Lyla and were walking through the park…

_~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~_

_I laughed at the joke Percy had just told as we walked through the park. We had just finished our first date in a long time, what with the kids and work we never had time off to just be together. But, it was a Saturday night(so no work) and the kids were being watched by Grover and Juniper for the day at camp so we had the whole day to ourselves. I smiled over at Percy, being like this reminded me of when we first started to date. My smile turned to a grin when I remembered how nervous Percy was on that first date. He was so scared that our relationship wouldn't work out or that he'd make a complete fool of himself and just destroy our first date altogether._

_Most of all, he was worried that a monster would attack us, leaving our first date a complete disaster. I had to agree then, I really didn't want to deal with any monsters. The titan war had just ended and Percy and I had had our fair share of monsters. Luckily, no monsters attacked and the date went great, leading to a line of great dates before he proposed. It's been about seven years since we were married and we have three kids: Six year old Anthony, three year old Brianna, and one month old Lyla._

"_What are you thinking about?" Percy asked, pulling me out of my thoughts._

"_The kids." I answered and he chuckled._

"_They'll be fine Annabeth. Grover and Juniper will take great care of them. Besides, they are at camp, their safe there and everyone will watch them." He reassured. I smiled._

"_I know; I just worry." I admitted. He chuckled and hugged me._

"_Well they'll be fine. I doubt a month would try to go after them and fight hundreds of demi-gods to get to them. No matter how powerful they are." He joked and I laughed, agreeing with him, "Besides, the camp boarders protect them." I sighed in defeat._

"_Yeah, you're right." I admitted. He chuckled one last time before we continued on through the park in silence. It was pretty empty tonight; just us two were in the park which was usual for central park. I should have realized the truth in that statement. If I had, maybe, maybe we would have left before it happened. About five minutes later, Percy and I froze and an army of monsters appeared out of nowhere, surrounding us. Automatically, Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out his pen, transforming it into riptide and I pulled out my dual hunting knifes that were strapped to my calves. There must've been about one hundred monsters surrounding them._

_I assured myself with the thought that we have been through worse odds before and that we'd get through this now. There had been rumors that there were groups of monsters hunting Percy and I down to get revenge on us destroying their chances of ruling the world. I believed that but I never thought that the groups would be this big. I looked to Percy for reassurance. Not letting me down, he gave me a smile full of complete confidence, filling me with strength. He nodded swiftly, signaling that it was time to attack. A second later we attacked, stabbing each and every monster in range. Not stopping for a rest, we killed monster after monster all while watching one another's back._

_We came to a Cyclops and, not even stopping for a second, Percy stabbed him in the chest while I jumped up and stabbed him in the head. A second later, he crumbled to dust and we continued on through the monsters. With one last thrust the last monster was killed. Turning towards Percy, I grinned happily, loving the feeling of adrenaline coursing through my blood, reminding me of the times we fought monsters during the Second Titan and Giant wars. He grinned back, capping riptide and putting the pen back in his pocket. I slipped my dual hunting knives back into the sheathes at my ankles. As I started to rise again, I heard Percy gasp and just as I stood up straight, I caught a glimpse of the expression of horror on his face before he pulled me to him, spinning around so that I did a whole one-eighty degree spin from the spot I was in before._

_Before I could speak up, I jumped back as a dagger was plunged through Percy's chest, before it was ripped out. Percy gasped before he fell to the ground. Looking up, fury, horror, and dread rolled through me as I met the eyes of an empousai holding a bloodied knife and grinning in triumph and Percy lying, wounded on the ground. Reacting a second later, I pulled both of my hunting knives and stabbed the empousai in the chest, dragging the knives down her chest in anger. The empousai dissolved into dust as I dropped my hunting knives and fell to the ground, clutching Percy's head in my arms._

"_Stay with me Percy, stay with me." I begged. He chuckled lightly, wincing from pain._

"_It's too late Annabeth, she…she hit an artery, I can feel the water in my blood rushing out from it." He informed me faintly._

"_N-no Percy, please, stay. Y-you'll be fine. Come on, you can't let a stupid empousai kill you now. You can't d-die that way." I pleaded with him. He chuckled darkly._

"_The fates can be cruel Annabeth, you can't choose the way you die, it just happens." He stated._

"_No Percy, you can't die, you need to live. The-the kids need you to raise them, I-I can't do it on my own." I stuttered. He smiled lovingly up at me._

"_Of course you can Annabeth; you can always do anything when you put your mind to it. I know you can, just look what you did with Olympus and what you have done with our family already. You'll do great." He promised._

"_B-but I can't do it without you Percy." I admitted, tears falling rapidly from my eyes. He weakly reached up and shakily wiped some of my tears away._

"_Don't worry Annabeth, you'll do fine. I know you will." He stated, letting his hand drop so he could hold my hand._

"_B-but…" I trailed off._

"_You'll do great Annabeth." He whispered with total confidence. I could see in his eyes that he completely and truly believed that I would, "After all Wise Girl, when you commit to something, you pass it with flying colors." I smiled sadly down at him, laughing weakly at him silly joke. He smiled as I laughed before he closed his eyes slowly, taking a shaky breath in before he weakly opened his eyes again. His beautiful sea-green eyes, the ones inherited by our son Anthony and daughter Lyla, met my own stormy gray eyes. He silently stared into them for a minute before smiling lightly at me, "I love you Wise Girl, take care of the kids for me." He whispered. I chuckled lightly, sniffling._

"_I love you too Seaweed Brain and I will, I promise." I whispered fervently back with all my heart. As a last good-bye, I leaned down and softly kissed him. As I pulled away, I heard him take his last breath before he grew limp, the hand that still held my own falling limp to the ground. That was when I lost it, the sobs just poured out of me as I buried my head into his chest. Never again will I be with him, I will have to raise my children without him and live every day of my life without him. After who knows how long of crying, I was pulled out of my sadness when someone spoke._

"_Oh Annabeth." I slowly lifted my head to meet the eyes of Nico Di Angelo who had just appeared from a shadow. Taking a deep breath, I shakily spoke._

"_I-I'm guessing you felt his s-soul go." I stuttered. He nodded silently, falling to the ground as his own tears rolled down his face at the loss of someone who was like a brother to him. It was silent for a while before Nico spoke._

"_He was sent immediately to the Isle of the Blessed." I looked up in shock at that as he smiled faintly, "This may have been his first life, but Father agreed that he did enough in his life to count for at least three lives." I nodded at that, sniffling as I took it in._

"_Thank you, he deserves that." I whispered. As a response, Nico reached over and hugged me tightly as I cried into his chest. Though I wished that Percy was still alive, I was happy that he finally could be at peace now, now he didn't have to worry about any monsters attacking him; he was safe and happy down in the Isle of the Blessed and will remain that way. And soon, I will see him again._

_~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~_

I definitely followed through with my promise. I raised my children, teaching them about their father, telling stories of the things he'd done. Anthony remembered his father and Brianna did too, but little Lyla barely remembered him. I tried to counter that with memories that I shared to her about him whether they were about him as Percy Jackson, Savior of Olympus twice, or if it was about Percy Jackson her father. Soon, my children grew up and moved out, gaining their own husbands and wife and, soon enough, having their own children.

They all lived close to me, allowing me to visit them often. They tell me that it was because they needed someone to watch their kids and couldn't miss out on my cooking(that being a joke, despite being a mother of three, I have always been a horrible cook, never being able to improve in that area). But, truthfully, I knew that they stayed near to watch over me; they didn't like the thought of me being alone by myself. Years went by and I soon became one of the oldest demi-gods to ever live. I'm seventy-three now and have definitely lived a full live(especially by demi-god standards).

Two years ago I got one of the most shocking information of my life(right up there with Percy being traded with Jason and being told that two wars were coming): I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and was soon put into an elderly home. Ironic that one of the smartest children of Athena would gain a sickness that causes her to forget everything that she knows. By now, most of the things I have ever learned I've forgotten. Even worse, I forget my children and friends and that's only grows even more frequent through time. The only thing that I really have to grasp is the memory of Percy's death and in that, I am reminded of the promise I made(and fulfilled) that keeps the thought that I do, in fact, have three children named Anthony, Brianna, and Lyla as well as three friends named Nico, Grover, and Juniper.

Everything else I've forgotten. Every now and then I get flashes, showing times of war and times of peace in my life, but they usually disappear and I soon forget them. After a while, my son Anthony gave me the idea of writing down what I remember. That book is one of the only things that holds me together. So many memories are written down it; memories that I have long since lost and that never come back in flashes anymore. Each day I can feel myself slipping even more and I know that, soon, it will be my time to go; soon I will be reunited with my seaweed brain again.

~~~~~~two weeks later~~~~~~

My son Anthony visited me today. He spent the whole day telling me stories of him growing up and funny and embarrassing things that I would do. Like always, he told me memories that he remembered of his father: Times that Percy would bring him to pool, tickle him to death, read him stories, cook dinner(he told me that Percy was definitely a better cook than me and usually always cooked the meals), and so much more till all the memories that he could remember about him were told. He left soon after that, kissing me one last time and saying goodbye. I knew that it was my time to go; I could feel that today would be my last day in the world of the living. I can feel myself slowly slip away. That was confirmed when, at about seven O'clock at night when the nurses had already come by with dinner an hour before and wouldn't come for another hour to check on us before we go two sleep. Two beams of light appeared in my room, one gray and another sea-green. When the lights dimmed and disappeared, in their place were two people: One that looked like a younger version of me, but with different colored hair and a man that was an exact replica of Percy though I few years older than him when he had died.

"W-who are you?" I questioned. I felt that I knew them; I knew I had seen their faces before, but I just couldn't put names to them. They smiled sadly at me.

"Annabeth, it is us. Poseidon and Athena." The woman kindly stated. Athena I knew, I remember that name as the name of my mother. Poseidon I remembered as the name of Percy's father. I respectfully bowed my head, the rest of my body too weak to get up.

"You couldn't have come at a better time. I think it is my time to go." I admitted. They nodded in agreement, sad smiles on their faces.

"Yes, we know. We were able to make a compromise with the fates. They have decided that instead of letting you carry on with forgetting, they would allow you to…" She paused here, "Pass in your sleep." I could see how much it pained her to say that. I smiled at that, happy that I wouldn't go through the pain that the other patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's have, I never wanted to forget how to walk or eat like the others had.

"Tell them thank you." I whispered. They nodded. It was silent before mother spoke again.

"W-we." She swallowed deeply, "We also talked with Hades. He decided that, like Percy, you would be immediately sent to the Isle of the Blessed like Percy. He said that since you had been there right with Percy during each quest and war, that you gained the same rewards as well." She stated quietly. I smiled at that, happy that I would be reunited with Percy again in the greatest afterlife a person could have. Poseidon walked towards me.

"I am so happy that Percy found someone like you to spend his life and afterlife with. I want you to know that I was so proud to be your father in law and want to thank you for everything you have done in your life for Percy and the world." He finish, kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"Thank you Poseidon." I stated. He smiled sadly, tears filling his eyes, before he nodded. He gave one last glance at Athena before he disappeared in a flurry of sea shells that disappeared before they hit the ground. Looking away from the spot, I saw Athena looked away towards my window before she looked back, tears filling her eyes now. She slowly walked towards me and grasped my hand in hers.

"Annabeth, I want you to know that you were the best daughter a mother could have." Tears fell from her eyes at this, "I am so proud of all that you have done. You faced every challenge of your life with courage and never back down once, no matter the odds that were against you. You are my favorite daughter of all time and no one could ever take your place." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing on, "I want to tell you that I was wrong. Percy was the perfect person for you, I was wrong to treat him the way I did and I am happy that you will be spending your afterlife with someone like him, you deserve each other." She wiped her tears away before leaning down and kissing my cheek, squeezing my hand gently, "I love you Annabeth." She whispered. I smiled at her.

"And I love you mother." I whispered back. Leaning down and hugged me she soon pulled back and, with one last smile, she vanished in a flurry of owl feathers. I lay, staring at the spot that my mother had just vacated and smiled. To hear that from her was something that I always wished would happen. Finally truly at peace for one of the first times in my life, I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.

**Song I'm listening to right now: 'The Hobbit – Misty Mountains' covered by Peter Hollens(he's such an amazing singer; he has such great range).  
Well, that's all. You should all check out the actual contest on Lunknownl, the rest of the stories written are amazing. People like Anaklusmos14, Blondie B. Happy, HecateA, HunterofArtemis32, and TackAttack who are all amazing writers. Please vote for your favorite because the contest needs a lot more votes. Well, bye everyone, I'll put up the second prompt when I have it all done.:)**


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